A star of the BBC’s Lord of the Flies adaptation has shared how he has kidneys from both of his parents.
David McKenna, 12, plays ‘Piggy’ in the series, based on the classic novel about young boys stranded on a desert island by William Golding.
And the young actor has opened up about his health struggles growing up – as he had to undergo two life-saving surgeries.
David was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure at only two weeks old, and at four years old, he received his first transplant from his dad Jim.
Six years later, the kidney failed – and his mother Elizabeth donated another.
The actor reflected on the tough experience in a video for Children’s Kidney Fund NI 25th anniversary in 2024.
“It has changed my life,” he said.
“I’m really proud of myself to think that 18 months ago, I was sat on a dialysis chair.
“Now I’m winning musical theatre trophies, starring in musicals and I have something very exciting coming my way very soon.”
What the “exciting” news David was thought to be referring to was his role in Lord of the Flies.
The first operation took place in 2016, after both parents were tested to see if they were a match, and David’s mum Elizabeth told the Belfast Telegraph how transformative it was for her son.
“Before the transplant we did not have that, he did not have any energy, and all of a sudden, almost overnight, he woke up and that was it,” she said.
“He could not walk unaided before because he didn’t have the balance but now he is off round the park on his own.
“We couldn’t enjoy that before, it is things like that other people take for granted.”
But David’s kidney began to fail again, so when he was ten, Elizabeth also donated one of her own.
Lord of the Flies - which has been adapted by Adolescence screenwriter Jack Thorne - is now available on iPlayer, and The Standard gave the show a four-star review.
“This slick, visually rich adaptation of Lord of the Flies is broadly faithful to the novel, though the characters are glossed with an added layer of humanity,” Claudia Cockerell writes.
“When the boys’ plane crash lands on the island, there is no discernible adult around, but for a dead pilot.
“We first encounter Piggy, foraging for mangoes.
“Hats off to casting extraordinaire Nina Gold for finding David McKenna, who so brilliantly embodies the shrewd, tragic hero of the novel, with his suet pudding cheeks and eminently mockable micro-gestures, from the way he primly pushes his spectacles up his nose to the huffing and puffing borne of either exasperation or ‘ass-mar’.”
